This article contains affiliate links.
Welcome to the first blog income report for 2019.
I publish these to share not just the revenue from my blog and online business, but also the mistakes, lessons and new projects.
You can find all income reports here.
If you haven’t started a blog yet, make sure you check out my free course Launch Your Profitable Blog Today:
What Happened on The Blog in January 2019
Wrapping up 2018 in one big income report
I published my first annual blog income report where I summarized all I worked on and earned in 2018. It’s super long and has a lot of information that can help bloggers just starting out.
At the end of the post, I mention the bloggers who kept me motivated throughout the years. Funny thing is, 2 of them personally reached out to congratulate me after checking the income report (and to thank me for linking to them).
New freebie: How to Start Making Money from Sponsored Posts
Sponsored content is an important income stream for bloggers, yet there’s not much information about it online. That’s because bloggers earning from this don’t want to disclose their relationships with brands.
As I’ve been consistently earning thousands of dollars with sponsored posts on my blog for years, I dedicated many sections in the Make Money Blogging module of my course Financial Freedom Through Blogging to sharing my best tips and exact strategies.
I’ll also make sure to share more details for those just starting out with sponsored posts here on the blog.
For now, you can check out my freebie for 7 ways to start making money from sponsored posts.
2 Great Interviews
It’s going great with the interviews I publish on Let’s Reach Success. I’m currently preparing (awaiting the answers) for a few new ones, all with interesting entrepreneurs.
The first interview I shared with you last month was with Alexis from Fitnancials.com (the sister of Michelle from Making Sense of Cents). In it, she tells how she grew her blog and now earns $15,000 from it per month.
The next one is with Marina from The Zen Freelancer (another Bulgarian girl working online and in English and living in the Netherlands, like me).
She had an interesting journey before becoming a full-time freelancer and living the life she enjoys today. Read how she had to quit her job twice and overcome burnout before she became location independent and self-employed.
I publish new content less often but update old posts all the time.
I stopped accepting that many free and paid guest posts on Let’s Reach Success.
I’m more focused on going back to the archives and removing content that’s too short and doesn’t provide value (or is no longer relevant) and updating the rest.
I left Pinterest behind for some time. I’m still pinning manually and although I joined Tailwind a long time ago, I’m not making the most of its amazing features.
I’m now learning about Tribes and SmartLoop so I can get more views on my Pins and schedule my posts, instead of doing it myself every day.
I’ll also have to pay for Tailwind (the yearly plan to save a bit) soon so I can have unlimited scheduling.
Check out my Pinterest profile and follow me if you’re interested in seeing how things go.
January Blog Income Report
I earned a total of $3,382 in January 2018 from my blogging business.
To compare, here’s how things look like for the past 12 months:
Please keep in mind that’s gross income.
After extracting fees I pay to other platforms, transaction fees, paying my own taxes and insurance and covering my pension as a solopreneur in the Netherlands, there’s much less left for me to spend.
This Month’s Revenue Breakdown
Total Revenue (Gross Income) – $3,382
SPONSORSHIPS: $2560
AD REVENUE: $611
Mediavine
Check out: How to Optimize Your Site to Increase Ad Revenue
FREELANCE WRITING: $110
AFFILIATE MARKETING: $70
Check out: Making Sense of Affiliate Marketing
BOOKS: $31
This Month’s Expenses Breakdown
Web Services
WPX Hosting – $25 (Read my honest WPX Hosting Review)
Teachable – $0 (paid yearly)
Professional Services
Accountant (paid quarterly) – € 181,50
Office Supplies and Misc.
Mobile Plan – €27
Health Insurance – €237
Upwork fees – $21
PayPal fees – $138
Last month’s best content on Let’s Reach Success
35 blog posts were published in January 2019.
Here’s some of the content worth checking out if you haven’t already:
How I Made $3,067 Online: December Income Report
The Blame Game Explained: How Blaming Others is Destroying Your Life
Quitting Your Job to Work for Yourself: A Simple Guide to Doing it Right in 2019
7 Bad Relationship Habits to Quit Right Away to Rebuild Trust and Love
How to Start a Blog to Make Money: An Insanely Simple Guide for Beginners
4 Best Ways to Travel Europe on a Budget (And Still Have The Time of Your Life)
27 Best Chrome Extensions to Increase Your Productivity in 2019
Next Goals: What I’ll Be Working on in February 2019
In February, I’ll complete Module 6 of Financial Freedom Through Blogging (its last part is about creating, promoting and selling your own product, which is yet another passive income stream you can add to your blog and brand).
I’ll then continue with Module 7, which is about turning your blog into a real business (registering the business, having a business email, securing your website and keeping it up to date, tax tips for bloggers, GDPR, adding legal pages to your blog, and more).
I plan to complete this one and publish it by the end of February.
I’ll spend more time using Tailwind and scheduling pins to different boards of mine as well as group boards. I’ll watch tutorials and will read guides from bloggers that have already mastered Pinterest.
Also, I’ll keep checking out resources from other bloggers. I like to listen to The Side Hustle Project – a podcast by Ryan Robinson where he interviews successful online business owners and entrepreneurs and discusses their strategies for growing a business and increasing their income.
Another thing I’m always doing these months is updating old content on Let’s Reach Success.
Resources to Help You Start Making Money Blogging
Financial Freedom Through Blogging – It took me 5 years to start earning $5K/month blogging. In this course, I share all that I’ve learned about it. It’s the formula for starting a blog, turning it into a 5-figure business, and living life on your own terms. Inside it, you’ll find answers to all your questions about becoming a full-time blogger, behind-the-scenes content, real ways to make money and build blog traffic even if you have no experience, a ton of video tutorials, how-to guides and screenshots.
Launch Your Profitable Blog Today– If you just want to take the first few steps in your blogging journey, I have the right resource for you. This is a free course and will help you set up a site in less than an hour so you can move onto creating content, building your brand and monetizing your site.
Blogging Resources – To build a powerful site that turns visitors into buyers and monetize it well, you will need the right tools. In my Blogging Resources page, I’ve gathered the best of the best and the exact tools I’ve used to grow Let’s Reach Success and be able to make a full-time living as a location independent freelance writer.
10 Things I Did in The Last 6 Months to Double My Income and Make $5,000 a Month – It takes some courage and strategic actions to double your income online. Here’s exactly how I did it.
67 Best Side Hustle Ideas to Make an Extra $1000 a Month – Check out the ultimate list of side hustles you can start on your own and while working full-time that can be your chance to achieve financial independence.
Make Your First Money Online Freelancing [Free Course] – I created a free course sharing my journey to making more than $4,000/month blogging. It all began with freelancing and you can use this course to follow the steps I took to become a freelancer with no experience and earn my first income online.
The Passive Income Boss[Free Course] – That’s another free course I released on the topic of earning passive income through blogging. You’ll learn what passive income is exactly and how it works, how to get started with blogging and make your site powerful, and the 4 main passive income streams you can create using your blog.
Making Sense of Affiliate Marketing – If you’re not earning money through affiliate marketing, then you are leaving money on the table. This step-by-step affiliate marketing strategy course shows you how to increase your affiliate income and make more money blogging. It’s by Michelle from Making Sense of Cents who went from $0 in affiliate income to over $50,000 per month (and also the first online course I’ve ever taken).
How Bloggers Can Make $10,000 a Month from Home– Curious how bloggers get to 10K/month working from home and what you need to do differently? In this article, I discuss why it’s possible for everyone to make that much on a monthly basis and how to get there.
Mag – the premium theme I’m using for Let’s Reach Success.
Teachable – best place to create and sell your online courses.
Thank you for checking out my January income report. Hope it’s been helpful and you’re motivated to monetize your platform online or work on a different side hustle idea.
